Chapter 37: Children of Earth
Iris, Jack, and Ianto were running after another loose Weevil in the streets in the middle of the night. Iris panted, as she had to push herself to keep on running. Normally, their Weevil runs were not that difficult, but Rick was not making it easy for them.
Yes, Ianto had decided to name this particular Weevil Rick. The reasoning… nobody knew. Iris cursed the Weevil when she saw it turn left, and talked into her comm,
"Jack, Weevil turned left towards you!"
She could hear Jack laugh giddily and respond, "I could definitely burn this adrenaline in a good way after catching Rick."
Iris and Ianto both groaned, currently not in the mood for Jack's suggestion. Iris turned to follow where the Weevil had went, when she saw Ianto come in from a different direction. The Weevil looked around in a panicked manner, trying to find an escape when it realized that the trio had it surrounded.
That was when Ianto took the opportunity to knock the Weevil unconscious. Iris raised an eyebrow at her Welsh boyfriend, who merely shrugged and said,
"He wasn't looking."
Iris merely shook her head and chuckled, before putting down her Weevil spray.
It had been a few weeks since she had returned to Torchwood, and in the meantime, she was getting a little worried with how as more time passed, it was getting much closer to the events of something she dreaded.
After returning Rick to his rightful place, the trio walked over to the little kitchenette, where Ianto brew their coffee. Waiting for their caffeinated beverages to be done, Jack wrapped his arms around Iris, who seemed to be deep in thought. Ianto and Jack shared a glance as she did not react to either her favorite beverage or Jack's affectionate touches.
Ianto called out to her, causing her to snap her head up with wide eyes, before smiling and taking her coffee from him.
Jack sighed and asked, "What's going on, Iris?"
Iris took a sip of her coffee, before setting the mug down, and stating,
"I can't help but be worried about the future."
Jack sighed, knowing where she was going with this, as he tried to console her with,
"Iris, is it your knowledge of our future, again? You know that we promised to face it all head on."
Ianto watched his girlfriend warily, as she remained silent, a slightly frustrated look entering when she puffed some air into her cheeks. With that, he took her coffee, causing a shocked look to come across her features as he scolded her gently by stating,
"You don't get more caffeine unless you stop that."
Iris pouted, her eyes almost yearning for the coffee, causing Jack to sigh and turn her around and kiss her forehead lovingly. Iris laughed a little and said,
"I promised, I know. Sorry."
With that, she pecked Jack on the lips before turning and returning one to Ianto. They didn't let go of the slight sense of foreboding that settled into their hearts until Iris dragged them out of the Hub to watch Harry Potter with them at her place.
Hours later, Iris was at the Hub, cleaning the place up a little when Gwen walked in. The woman seemed surprise to see Iris up so early, and asked,
"Where's Jack and Ianto?"
Iris grimaced and merely responded with, "Out."
Gwen raised an eyebrow at that, and Iris further explained with,
"We did rock-paper-scissors to see who would get to go and check something out and I lost."
Gwen smiled a little at her irritated look, finding it adorable, before remembering why she had come here originally. With that, she said,
"I wanted to search something real quick…"
Iris let her walk by, before continuing her cleaning. But not too long afterwards, Gwen had somewhat finished sifting through the research she had done, when Ianto and Jack came in with annoyed looks.
Ianto groaned out, "You are gonna get us killed."
Jack mock glared at his partner and responded with, "No, you get killed, not me. You'd die like a dog… an ugly dog."
Iris stopped cleaning with her broom, putting a hand on her hip as she said, "The fact that you keep trusting him to drive safer than the last time is shocking Ianto."
Jack rolled his eyes and leaned in to give Iris a kiss when Gwen yelled out,
"Oi, chuckle brothers! Iris! I found something."
And before Jack's lips could touch hers, Iris quickly turned around and walked over to Gwen, not having noticed her boyfriend's attempt to kiss her.
Ianto snickered at that, finding it absolutely hilarious that Iris could be so oblivious to romance even now, before rushing after her. Jack sighed muttering something about how he managed to get someone so oblivious to love.
As he stepped forward as well, he said,
"Yeah? Well, I want you to do a check on Saint Helen's Hospital, specifically the morgue."
Iris looked over at him curiously, but Gwen sighed and only responded with,
"There's a computer, do it yourself. Meanwhile, I've been getting reports this morning of 17 traffic accidents happening right across the country, all the way from Glasgow to Saint Ives."
The trio frowned, as Jack asked, "Is that above average?"
Iris looked at the screen and said,
"Well, it seems they all occurred between 8:40 and 8:41. 17 road traffic accidents happening in exactly the same minute, and every single one of them involving children."
Ianto commented quietly, "That'll be the school run."
Gwen shook her head and answered,
"All of them were just standing in the road. Not crossing the road, just standing. I saw it myself, Jack. Two kids on Market Street. Well, they just stopped."
Iris froze at that and turned to Gwen, her face having turned pale, as she asked, "What?"
Gwen, Jack, and Ianto looked at Iris, whose face looked as if the blood completely drained from her face, as she said,
"I know what's happening, but I don't know what to do."
And it was true. As much as she had watched the episodes before falling into this universe, she really did not know how to deal with this if she wanted to change anything. And after all, if she couldn't actually change fate, then that meant she was going to lose Ianto.
Iris' hearts both started to beat faster at that thought, and Iris internally shook her head, thinking that if she could save Owen and Tosh from their fate, she could do that for Ianto as well.
Jack sighed and asked, "How dangerous?"
Iris bit her lip and responded, "Out of 10? Probably a seven… and a half. We don't go through a lot… but Torchwood will get targeted. We should relocate and hide."
Ianto and Gwen's eyes widened at that when Owen and Tosh walked in together, before stopping at the look of dread in their teammates' eyes. Owen swallowed thickly and asked,
"What's up now?"
Iris sighed and said, "The children."
With that, the team busied themselves. Gwen and Jack started to contact UNIT, letting them know that they were going under. Owen and Ianto were removing and packing medical equipment and important files they would need. Tosh and Iris were making sure that even without the tech at the Hub, that they would be able to do their work anywhere. Eventually, Iris could manage that herself, and left Tosh with looking at other places this was taking place in.
Eventually, Tosh called for Gwen and stated,
"Same reports from France. 15 road traffic accidents. All timed around 9:40. They're an hour ahead, so it was simultaneous."
Gwen asked incredulously then, "All involving children?"
Tosh nodded and said, "RTAs in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Luxembourg, Germany, India, Egypt, Guyana, Spain, Portugal, Bosnia, Tokyo, Singapore, America, and more."
Gwen looked over at Jack and asked, "Seen anything like this before, Jack?"
Iris warily glanced at Jack, who felt her look at him. He kept a straight eye contact with Gwen and tensely responded her question with, "No way. Kids."
Iris saw him walk away, hands in his pockets. She sighed before asking Ianto to watch her computer and going to him. She enterec his office, and asked,
"Jack? You alright?"
Jack sighed and asked quietly, "Was this what you were worried about yesterday?"
Iris could only answer, "Yes. Or at least… it was one of the things."
Jack turned and looked ashamed as he asked, "Then you know…?"
Iris could only nod sadly, causing Jack to look down at the ground before opening his mouth to explain, but Iris cut him off with,
"I can't say that I understood your perspective then, Jack. All I know is that you and I might be at odds by the end of all this. And you know that the team will eventually realize that you were involved in some way, right? Especially Gwen, she might even be the first to find out."
Jack sighed heavily once more, and said, "I know…"
But their quiet moment ended when Tosh poked her head in and said unsurely,
"Er… there's a guy, a Doctor Patanjali waiting outside…"
Jack looked over and smirked, asking, "What's he doing?"
The trio walked over to the screen and watched as Ianto joined into the conversation with,
"Waiting, just like you said. He's been there 20 minutes."
Jack chuckled and said, "Persistent."
Iris looked over and asked, "But we have enough members as it is."
Jack shrugged and said, "Eh… we could do with one more hand. And anyways, he seems dogmatic."
Ianto added, "Always a plus. I wouldn't archive anymore."
Iris sarcastically said, "God forbid archiving."
Gwen shrugged past them and commented,
"Oh, Christ, never work with a couple, trio... whatever. You three talk like triplets. Now tell me who he is."
Ianto answered, "Rupesh Patanjali. He saw the hitchhiker. He's the bodies going missing man."
Owen joined in as well, feeling left out, putting an arm around Tosh's soldier as they listened in. Jack added,
"Doctor Patanjali. We could do with one doctor in the field."
Owen bristled at that slightly, as he dubiously asked, "What, and you just let him follow you?"
Tosh muttered,
"Ask about Torchwood, and most people point towards the Bay."
Gwen's eyes widened after a fraction of a second as she came to realize something, blurting out,
Oh, you bastards. That's exactly what you did to me the first time we met. Well, sod that. I'm promoting myself to recruitment officer."
Everybody watched with amusement as she stormed off, before Iris raised her hand slightly and said,
"She knows that we're about to leave this place today, right?"
Everybody smirked at that, before shrugging and resuming to pack away whatever they could before going underground.
Once Iris walked away, Ianto looked towards Jack and whispered,
"She's calling us a couple now."
Jack asked with amusement laced in his voice, "What's your problem?"
Ianto shrugged and said, "Just saying."
Jack chuckled a little and said back, "I hate the word couple."
Ianto turned to him and said, "It's technically wrong."
Jack laughed at that before walking back to his office.
But not too long after they had almost finished packing, everybody heard Gwen contact them with the children's freezing again. Jack and Owen rushed out, leaving Ianto, Tosh and Iris to remain in the Hub and hurriedly transfer everything to their vehicles.
Throughout the day, they were busily making sure that they were able to move everything. But it wasn't until later that Jack mentioned,
"We need a child. Because we need to test those frequencies. Find the right frequency, and we can find out who's transmitting."
Iris shook her head and said, "That's too dangerous! You know that it's a risk using a kid like that."
Jack looked down at her and frustratedly commented, "If you hadn't noticed, Iris, it's only the kids being affected and one grandpa."
Iris' eyes twitched a little at that, as she hissed out,
"And since you apparently haven't remembered, here's news to you, Jack Harkness! That grandpa was one of the kids you tried to send over the last time."
Jack froze before looking at her in a panicked way, "What?"
Iris stepped towards him, her voice slightly calmer now, as she said,
"He ran away. He managed to live his life, but I don't know what had happened, but he managed to escape and become traumatized by it."
He sighed, before noticing that she and he were the only two people in the Hub, making him ask,
"Where's Ianto and others?"
Iris looked at him and said, "I sent them to go to their families. They all have kids somewhere in their family, Jack."
The 51st century man's shoulders slacked a bit as he admitted, "I should visit…"
Iris' eyes saddened slightly as she said, "You mean your daughter and grandson?"
Jack looked up at her in surprise. "How…"
Iris just patted his shoulder and said, "Spoilers."
The man smiled tightly and admitted, "I should have told you. But I was slightly scared that you would…"
Iris raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Jack, I loved you knowing what kind of person you were before meeting the Doctor. How could you possibly think that would make me stop loving you now?"
Jack hugged her tightly and said, "I guess I'm an idiot."
Iris laughed a little, as she said, "Go to them."
Jack then pulled away slightly before pressing his lips to her forehead, whispering,
"Thank you."
Iris then sensed him whoosh away with the turning of his coat. Iris watched him walk away, knowing what he would ask to his daughter. With that, she pulled out her phone and bit down on her lower lip, wondering if she should call HIM.
And before she could actually press the call button, she heard his voice automatically come through their bond with,
"Iris? What is it? I could feel you wanting to talk to me."
Iris jumped a little at that, not having expected him to contact her through their bond, and responded with,
"You should come here first."
And not too long after, the TARDIS landed in front of her, and the door opened to reveal the 10th Doctor in front of her. Iris immediately started to rapid-fire explain what was going on to him, when he stopped her and said,
"Iris, you don't know what these creatures are?"
Iris shook her head and said, "The only thing they were called is the '456'. I don't know what that means. What I do know is that they need a specific atmospshere and that Jack..."
The Doctor glanced down at her and saw her face pale and asked, "What is it?"
Iris's eyes had widened and she exclaimed in horror, "Oh my God… Jack! I forgot that if he doesn't come here straight away after meeting… he would have a bomb in his stomach."
The Doctor looked at her worriedly and asked her hurriedly,
"Jack will know what he's doing. But Iris, the atmosphere?"
Iris snapped out of it and looked at him with irritation before stating,
"Artificial section somewhere within British government using an atmosphere consisted of 25% nitrosyl chloride, 22% hydrogen chloride, 20% nitrogen, 12% fluorine, 9% hydrogen cyanide, 6% acetone, and 6% phosgene."
The Doctor nodded and said,
"I haven't heard of these creatures before, but if they are using children as transmitters, I should be able to do something. Wait for me here!"
And with that, the Doctor ran into the TARDIS to do some analysis. Iris could only watch helplessly as the TARDIS dematerialized in a few seconds.
When Owen and Tosh came back, Iris immediately jumped into action and told them about the potential bomb, and said,
"We need to move."
With that, the trio drove the vehicles to their safe place that they had managed to set up. Iris had managed to contact Martha Jones beforehand and gotten a place prepared months ago.
Not until much later, did Ianto and Gwen join them. By the look on Gwen's face, Iris could tell that something had happened for her to panic, most likely the indication that she realized something about her pregnancy.
When they came over, Iris looked towards Ianto, who told the rest of the Torchwood team how there was a bomb implanted into Jack and that the 51st century man had made them come here. That was when Iris spotted Rhys, who had come in with some groceries, causing Owen and Tosh to raise their eyebrows at the Welsh woman, who responded with,
"We are being targeted. I couldn't just leave him there."
Iris nodded before stating,
"The government has shut down Torchwood, and we are no longer able to operate on the level that we used to. Torchwood is officially over now. The only option we have is to go under and live secretly."
Owen huffed out in anger as he said, "After everything we have done and sacrificed, is this what our fate? I refuse to believe it! I refuse to hide!"
Tosh gently put a hand on her partner's shoulder. Trying to calm him down. Owen did stop his ranting, but his anger at the overall situation was clear. Ianto sighed and walked over to Iris, asking,
"What is going on, Iris?"
Iris swallowed thickly, looking over at her team, who all stared at her with slight fear of their future. She shakily took a breath in before stating,
"There are these creatures, I only know them as the 4-5-6. I'm not sure what they really are and where they come from, but they need a specific atmosphere made for them and the British government has no choice to meet their demands. They did it once before, and…"
That was when Iris hesitated, glancing warily at her team, before admitting,
"They are asking for a certain number of children to take."
Tosh noticed the terrified look in Iris' features as she asked, "Why children?"
Iris looked over and the team could see that she had paled a bit more from the question, before answering with,
"Because the creatures use the children as a source of recreational drug."
Everyone balked at that and Rhys had to hug the now sobbing Gwen. Ianto looked concerned and asked her,
"And Jack?"
Iris looked over at them and said, "Jack is gonna be alright. He knows where we are, and we will eventually see him again. Our main priority is to figure out how to defeat these creatures. We need to know where they are located and make sure that this does not happen again. I contacted the Doctor earlier, and he went to find things out for us. Knowing him, it might take a while though."
Everyone nodded, and Owen asked,
"If they require a specific atmosphere, then the British government took us out of the picture because they know that we would go against them even if UNIT doesn't."
Iris sighed and admitted, "I'm not sure of UNIT's stance on this matter, but I can tell you that we can't rely on them either… although we could most likely ask Kate Stewart for some information."
Gwen sniffled and said, "We need to get someone inside. All those children… we can't sacrifice them."
Iris looked around and then to Tosh, asking, "Tosh, could you look up someone in the government with the last name Frobisher? There should be someone working under him called Lois. We might be able to get her on board."
Tosh immediately started typing information in and hacking through the list of staff in the government, coming positive, stating,
"There is a Lois. Here's her number, sending it to your mobiles."
Gwen immediately picked up her phone, and looked at it, before stating,
"I want to be the one who calls."
Iris nodded, not sure, but she looked towards Rhys and said, "Follow her. Make sure she stays out of sight."
The man nodded, though he looked out-of-place. Ianto came up to Iris and hugged her from behind while Owen sat down, deep in thought, as the team medic said,
"If they need a specific atmosphere, we could somehow manage to sabotage that, right? They cannot survive on earth because of the gas makeup here."
Iris nodded, but refuted it, stating, "We don't know if they have a ship right outside of our planet, waiting to attack if situations don't work out. That's what the Doctor is trying to learn. For all I know, there is a representative here, still hooked up to a child that they had taken in the 1900s."
Owen balked at that and Iris could feel Ianto's hold on her tighten a little, as the man behind her stated,
"That's sick. They get high off of children?"
Iris could only nod, not finding the courage to state anything. But then she turned to Ianto, asking if he could go and fetch some food for them, since they needed to eat to keep going. The man gave Iris a peck on her forehead before leaving their base to do so. Owen glanced at Iris, who came up to him and said,
"Owen, I need you to do something for me."
The medic looked at her incredulously, and asked,
"What is it? You normally go to Ianto for this kind of thing."
Iris shook her head and said, "I need you because I need you to stop him from joining Jack and I later. You'll know when that time comes. But I need you to do that for me."
Owen studied Iris' eyes, before sighing and saying, "Jack comes back from the dead, and I know you technically do as well, but Iris, that doesn't mean you will not die at all."
Iris sighed and retaliated with, "I'm not going to go in. I know how stupid that is, but I will probably go with the Doctor to stop this entire thing from happening. They could easily poison our atmosphere and we might not notice it. Remember the Sontarans not too long ago?"
Owen sighed and said, "I hope you can stop that from potentially happening, but if you can't, I won't be able to deal with whatever we have left. That would destroy Ianto, even if Jack could handle it. Ianto loved the human you and this you, but it still took some time for all of us to come to know this, Time Lady version of you."
Iris could see the hesitant admittance that he was sharing with her, as he continued on with,
"When you came back in this body, we didn't know how to talk to you at first. Of course, we acted as if nothing was wrong… but it was hard for all of us, Iris. You came back as a different person."
Iris could only glance down at the floor, as she said, "I know. It… it took me a while to get used to this sensation. I'm honestly terrified. Knowing the future, I'm going to have to ask you another favor."
Owen sighed and asked, "Jack? You want me to stop Jack?"
Iris looked back to Owen with a serious, burning gaze that gave him his answer and he could only ask,
"What does he do?"
Iris could only answer back with, "Something he'll regret for his entire life."
Owen looked at her and chuckle helplessly as he said,
"I understand how helpless Ianto must have felt in the past. I wish you didn't ask me this."
Iris could only put a hand on his shoulder and whisper out, "I'm sorry."
Owen shook his head and quietly said, "We protect our own."
Iris held back her tears at that, making sure Owen did not see her feel vulnerable at this moment.
~~ ….. ~~
Later, Gwen and Rhys came back, stating, that they had managed to recruit Lois to help them by stopping by their base later. The team discussed rescuing Jack, and eventually Iris and Owen decided that the best way was for Owen, Rhys, Gwen and Ianto go for the man.
Tosh and Iris would stay behind to discuss other plans and ways to prepare Lois for the upcoming set of events. As they prepared for everything, Iris' mind was also partially busy with trying to find ways to stop Jack from using his grandson in all of this. Preventing Ianto's death, she could only hope. Stopping Jack from his own course of decisions, it would be hard, but she had to find a way to do so.
However, night hit, and Iris had decided that it would be best to make dinner whilst thinking of a solution, so she had prepared some simple foods, deciding on some rice and Korean curry. As that was cooking, the rest of the team returned.
Iris saw Tosh running towards their leader and giving him a slap on the shoulder before hugging him. The Time Lady could only look at her boyfriend with slight dread.
When the man had finally caught her gaze and stared back at her, Iris could see the look of relief and something dark there as well. Iris turned the fire off, and walked towards him, before kissing him on the cheek, whispering,
"I'm sorry."
Jack frowned at that, while the rest of the team gave the two some space. Ianto had already given Jack an earful of different things he had not been happy about.
Iris knew what his silent question was, and said,
"You shouldn't have had to go through that at all."
Jack shook his head and smiled, stating, "Nothing I haven't gone through before."
Iris let a tear slip, and the man finally realized how unhappy the Time Lady was, and quickly quieted down and became serious, as Iris could only whisper-yell,
"You still died! I don't know how you could think I would take that lightly! I-"
Jack could see her choke up before she shakily continued, putting her head in his chest and admitting vulnerably,
"I love you. And I fear for you."
Jack froze at that. Of course, it wasn't the first time they had admitted their love for each other out loud, but this was the first time that he could really think that Iris was admitting this in her emotional state. Something in his heart tugged and he could only hug her tightly as he said,
"I won't go anywhere. Not without you."
Iris let out a shaky breath and said, "Don't leave me."
Jack hugged her tighter and promised,
"Wherever you are, I won't forget you or leave you behind. I promise."
Iris sniffled before looking up at him with teary eyes. Jack gave her a gentle kiss before wiping away her tears lovingly. Owen watched from a distance and couldn't help the nagging feeling in his chest at what he had promised Iris earlier. Something was wrong, and he hadn't seen Iris this upset since she had regenerated.
After their moment, Iris led the team to their dinner and everyone quietly ate, finally feeling as if the situation they were in was settling in more so than before. No jokes and no flirtations were shared like normal.
Afterwards, Rhys asked,
"Is anyone gonna see us in here, you know, with all this light and stuff?"
Iris shook her head and said, "We are safe here. This is a space that someone set for us. They can be trusted."
The man nodded, while Gwen asked,
"Jack, they're arriving today. That alien voice thing said today, and we're stuck in the back end of beyond."
Jack looked at his team, and then to Iris, as he said,
"Yeah. But we're together, the team. We're down, but not out, yeah? We've survived worse than this."
Tosh nodded and Owen wrapped his arms around her, as Jack continued with,
"Besides, I don't know how much fighting you should do in your condition, Gwen."
That caused an upset Rhys to storm out, making Gwen glare towards Jack, before the team just awkwardly watched. Ianto muttered,
"All together. The old team."
That was when Iris walked over to Jack and asked him,
"You call your daughter?"
Jack shook his head and said, "I shouldn't. It's too dangerous."
Iris grabbed his hand and gave him a burner phone, and argued, "You should call her. She's probably worried sick about you."
Jack looked at her and said, "How can you be so calm about my daughter and grandson?"
Iris smiled warmly and said, "Because that was your past. And who am I to judge? I didn't even exist in this universe at that time. And she's someone you love. How could I hate someone like that?"
Jack gave her a thankful smile, but put the phone in his pocket and said, "Later. When everything settles down."
Iris let out a sigh and said, "I wish you would, but I can't force you."
Jack sighed and said, "I don't want to put her in danger."
Iris shook her head and said, "The fact that you are her father doesn't change the fact that she loves you and probably worried sick for you after hearing what happened to Torchwood. And if she tries to contact you and the government notices she has a connection with us, do you think they will let her be?"
Jack looked stricken before standing up and stating,
"I'll call her."
Iris watched him storm off as well. Ianto came up to her then, and asked,
"Are you alright? You've been leading us, even commanding Jack on this."
Iris sighed, brushing her fingers through her hair in slight frustration and said,
"No… I'm… not really ok actually. But I will be once this is settled."
Ianto could see the look of regret in her eyes as she seemed to think, before he lifted her chin gently, and making her look up at him questioningly. He said,
"I know you can't share everything, but even if the world is ending… especially if it is ending, I want to make the most of it with you and Jack."
Iris looked at him with wide eyes this time, as she said,
"Ianto, but…"
Ianto silenced her with a small kiss to her lips. Iris could only gape at that, before Ianto whispered,
"Because if this is it, and you see me die of old age like you said, I want you to at least have Jack and keep going."
Iris felt the heaviness settle in her hearts, realizing how true the Doctor's words to Rose in the show had been. Ianto could spend his forever with her, but she couldn't do that with him. Iris choked out,
"I'll love you forever. I'll always love you, regardless of the time."
Ianto's eyes saddened at that, as he admitted, "I wish we could both grow old together and have children together. That dream was taken from me, but that doesn't matter Iris, I love you. And I'm happy as long as you're by my side."
Iris felt her breath break at that reality of his words, as she asked, "Children?"
Ianto smiled, shrugging to lighten the mood, and said, "Eh, it is a hope of mine."
Iris looked up at the man she loved and stood up on her toes to kiss him better. That was when Jack walked back in to see them embrace each other, almost in desperation. Passion was there, but it was more of a way to deliver each other how they felt for one another, and Jack could only watch with a smile on his face.
When they pulled apart, Jack walked over and kissed them both on their heads, and said,
"I missed something, didn't I?"
Ianto raised an eyebrow and said, "If you both can spare 30 minutes…"
That was when Jack looked over and sighed and said, "There's no room to really do that unless we shower…"
Iris blushed bright red at that and said, "Uh…"
Ianto and Jack looked at her before a look of mischievousness settled. And before she could even react, both men grabbed each of her hands and dragged her away to the shower. After all, they had a bit of time.
When they entered the bathroom of the underground station Jack stood in front of Iris, while Ianto trapped her from behind. Iris could only swallow before Jack crashed his lips onto hers, causing her to gasp before relaxing into his touch. Ianto then put his hands on her waist before putting his lips onto her neck and giving her attention there.
Iris could only melt at both men's touches, and a moan escaped her when Jack's hand started to explore her body. That was when Ianto started to help Iris with her clothing, and the Time Lady could feel her hearts beating faster and she could only let them do what they did. Jack soon started to take his own clothing off before starting the shower and seductively watching Ianto give more attention to Iris as he started to strip as well.
Iris turned and kissed Ianto, who then gently guided her to the shower, before all three were sprayed with hot water from the showerhead. And despite Ianto's initial claim of 30 minutes, they ended up coming out much later.
After their activities, Iris was looking at her phone, waiting for the Doctor to call her back, while Tosh was madly working on the computer, when Jack walked in and said,
"Frobisher's the key to this. He's just a civil servant, he's nothing. What makes him start authorizing executions?"
Owen shook his head and said, "Technically, we haven't dug into his background much. But I'm sure Tosh and I can sniff something out."
Tosh merely nodded, as she switched to a different screen that she had prepared and started working on that. Ianto noticed Iris was biting her lower lip in concern, and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, asking,
"You alright?"
Iris let out a sigh and smiled tightly, answering,
"I'm just hoping the Doctor comes back soon."
Ianto's eyes showed understanding as he smiled at her, bringing the Time Lady into a hug, telling her,
"It will turn alright. He will come for you. Knowing him, he's gonna have to answer to both Jack and I if he doesn't."
That caused Iris to chuckle. And eventually, Tosh found the information about the others Jack had worked with approximately 40 years ago. Jack looked towards Iris briefly in guilt before running out of the warehouse, causing everyone to look towards Iris with questioning glances. Iris could merely shake her head before instructing the others. Gwen and Ianto were charge in watching after Lois, who they had made contact with, while Tosh and Owen were to find ways to hack into the Thames House.
However, when the activity started again, once again influencing the children, the Time Lady could feel her hearts beating rapidly. Gwen had bolted out claiming to look for Clem, and Iris had Rhys follow after her. Ianto was then left to make sure Lois wasn't reporting their identities to anyone else, whilst Owen rapidly started to keep track of the news.
Soon, Clem was brought back by Gwen and Rhys, causing the elderly man to look around hesitantly. He cautiously asked,
"Nice house, isn't it?"
Iris came up to him and offered him a cup of tea, which the man accepted with gratitude. Iris left Gwen to talk with him, when suddenly the man looked straight over at Ianto, and asked,
"And who's the queer?"
Ianto looked baffled, as he jokingly yelled back, "Oi! It's not 1965 anymore."
Clem snorted as he smirked over at Iris and said,
"He's queer. I can smell it."
Ianto pouted at Iris, causing Tosh and Owen to snicker while continuing on their work, as Iris merely patted Ianto's cheek stating,
"I love you all the same."
Ianto sighed and continued prepping for their next meal, seeing as Rhys was busy attending to his wife.
Later, the group held their breaths as Rhys asked,
"What do you think's in there?"
Iris muttered lowly, "The 4-5-6. I don't know more than that, but they are hateful."
Gwen added on, "God knows. That's why we need Lois."
Tosh sighed, frustrated, as she commented, "No sign of her. Lenses inactive."
Iris prayed that Lois would keep her word as she had done in the show when she had been in her own universe. As the group waited, a blip showed up on the screen before the full picture came on, as the camera activated, Ianto exclaimed in anticipation with,
"Online. She's doing it."
Owen muttered, "Good girl."
Rhys sighed in relief as he said, "I knew she would."
Gwen asked Tosh to send a message of thanks, which the Torchwood Three's resident hacker happily did so. That's when the team, lacking Jack, heard Lois whisper,
"Oh, God. Don't do too much of that."
Gwen muttered out an apology, causing Owen to roll his eyes and say,
"You know, she can't hear you."
Gwen stuck out her tongue at the Torchwood medic, when Lois stated,
"Is that you, Gwen?"
Tosh immediately typed, 'Yes, it's me' back to the woman. They all heard Lois breathe in and out deeply, before responding with,
"Right then. Good luck."
With that, Tosh responded back the same two words. Before Ianto could type in something, Owen swatted his hands away, stating,
"No smileys."
Ianto pouted again, causing Rhys to chuckle silently, making Clem smile a little. Iris then ignored the conversation that happened when she felt the bond between her and the Doctor suddenly open up as the Time Lord said,
"Iris! I may have found something, but Donna contacted me about the state of things going on there. Are you alright?"
Iris responded back through the bond with,
"I'm alright. But what did you find?"
The Doctor seemed to immediately respond back with,
"I found where their ships are. I have found that this is only a select rogue population that had become addicted to drugs… which…"
Iris knew that the Doctor seemed to have connected everything together, as she answered back with,
"You know."
The Doctor then said,
"I do. But I found that they are wanted by the Judoon. And since I found where most of their ships are…"
Iris' eyes widened and finished his statement with,
"Then you could technically anonymously report their location."
The Doctor confirmed her theory, and both Time Lord and Time Lady planned what to do, when the rest of the team were trying to figure out the conversation between Frobisher and the 4-5-6.
Once the two Time Lords were finished, Iris walked over to the group, when she heard Ianto translating,
"We will take your children."
Iris grimaced as the group's faces turned pale and Clem tensed. Rhys tensely asked,
"What the hell for?"
Gwen filled him in quietly, making the man appear to wish to punch the screen, but holding back for the sake of the team.
That was when Clem started to become terrified, muttering, the same statement, "He's coming." over and over again.
Gwen tried to comfort the man, when Jack entered the warehouse with a grim look. But Clem looked over at Jack, causing everybody else in the team to look towards the 51st century man with questioning, but wary glances as Clem declared terrified,
"He hasn't changed. He's the same. He's the same. All those years, how can he be the same?"
Owen muttered, "What's he talking about, Jack?"
Jack sighed, guiltily stating,
"Clement MacDonald. Just another name. It was easier if you didn't know the names."
Tosh asked incredulously, "You were there in 1965?!"
Clem pointed towards Jack, stating, "He was the man."
Gwen wanted to deny it as she said,
"No, no, this is what he does, you see. He fights them. He fights aliens. Isn't that right, Iris? Jack?"
Iris could only look away sadly, as Jack strongly stated, " No."
Everyone but Iris froze, as Gwen asked,
"Then what were you doing there?"
Jack looked towards Iris, who could only look back at Jack with a solemn look, making him answer,
"I gave them the kids. 1965, I gave them 12 children."
Tosh quietly asked, "What for?"
Jack could only answer with heavy guilt lining his voice,
"As a gift."
And that was when the rest of the Torchwood team, other than Iris, could swallow thickly with mixed emotions and underlying sense of dread of the unknown future. Especially Owen, as he remembered the promise he had made to Iris earlier.
A/N: I'll just… go hide in a corner now… Thank you so much to my wonderful readers, and I'll try to return as soon as possible!
